American Idol’s Top 12 Revealed Live! Were the Right 2 Singers Eliminated?
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We can now count the number of remaining American Idol contestants on two hands… plus a couple of toes. After Sunday’s live episode, which featured performances of songs from Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, Season 22 finally has its Top 12.
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Luke Bryan opened the show with John Mellencamp’s “Small Town,” before welcoming fellow judges Katy Perry and Lionel Richie to the stage. Naturally, Ryan Seacrest couldn’t help but ask Bryan about his fall during a recent Vancouver concert that has since gone viral. You know, purely out of concern.
With Kiss frontman Gene Simmons serving as this week’s surprisingly impressive celebrity guest mentor (seriously, he pulled some incredible performances out of these kids!), it was time for the 14 remaining contestants to sing live for America’s votes.
Ahead of Sunday’s episode, TVLine readers predicted that Jordan Anthony and Jayna Elise were the two contestants most likely to get eliminated, followed closely by Nya, Kaibrienne and Roman Collins. Did they guess right? Let’s get to the results and find out.
Read on for a complete breakdown of how the Top 14 fared on Sunday, including which two singers had their Idol dreams cut short. Once you’ve processed the results, vote for your ideal Top 10 in our poll and drop a comment with your thoughts on the episode. Was the right duo eliminated?
SAFE: Triston Harper
Looking to shake things up (literally), Triston ditched his guitar for a performance of Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel.” Gene Simmons encouraged him to put as much of himself as possible into the song, and the teen country phenom definitely took his advice to heart. Did you see those hips a-shakin’? He was feeling his inner Elvis from the tip of his head to the soles of those shiny new boots. It was more showy than what we’re used to seeing from Triston, but that’s not a bad thing; he was able to inject more energy without sacrificing his authentic country vibe.
TVLINE’S GRADE: “A”
SAFE: Julia Gagnon
Gene Simmons was “stunned” by Julia’s take on Whitney Houston’s “Run to You,” and that was just during rehearsals. So we can only imagine how he felt about her live performance, a glammed-up tribute to one of Julia’s childhood icons. She looked beautiful, she sounded incredible and we felt every bit of emotion in her voice. This will be remembered as one of the best moments of the season.
TVLINE’S GRADE: “A+”
SAFE: Roman Collins
The worship leader brought every run in his arsenal to this performance of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “You’re All I Need to Get By,” which proved that Roman is capable of turning literally any song about anything into a praise jam. The phrase “that took me to church” gets thrown around way too often — it should really be reserved for performances like this, which gripped our very souls.
TVLINE’S GRADE: “A”
SAFE: Kaibrienne
There was no doubt that Kaibrienne has the voice to handle a song like Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” but the physicality? That was a concern for ol’ Gene Simmons. Those doubts vanished when Kaibrienne performed live, commanding the stage and looking every bit like the rockstar she is. Not only did she manage to avoid veering into cheesy territory, but she served some of her strongest vocals of the season.
TVLINE’S GRADE: “A-“
SAFE: Jayna Elise
After narrowly escaping elimination last week, Jayna returned to the stage with something to prove, wisely arming herself with a powerful weapon like Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing.” Not only did she bring the emotion (with a capital-E!), but she navigated those bombastic high notes like an absolute champion. That performance was for every single person who didn’t vote for her last week, and it was phenomenal.
TVLINE’S GRADE: “A”
SAFE: Mia Matthews
Mia had big boots to fill — six boots, to be exact — by taking on Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt’s “Those Memories of You,” and she filled them out nicely. The vocals. The emotions. The hair! It was all there, and it all worked.
TVLINE’S GRADE: “A-“
SAFE: Kayko
Can we talk about how this was Kayko’s first cover of the season? He’s gotten this far solely by performing originals?! Wild. Anyway, we had no doubt that he would sprinke that unmistakable Kayko magic all over Radiohead’s “High & Dry.” It wasn’t the most exciting song of the night, but it was very Kayko, and he delivered it beautifully.
TVLINE’S GRADE: “A-“
SAFE: Emmy Russell
Gene Simmons could sense Emmy’s timidness from the moment she walked into the room. More importantly, he was determined to free Emmy from its destructive chains. Based on that overall strong performance of Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” we’d call his experiment a success. Mostly. At it’s best, it was beautiful, but there were some shaky notes in those crucial belting moments.
TVLINE’S GRADE: “B+”
ELIMINATED: Jordan Anthony
Another contestant with a freshly-lit fire under his butt after nearly getting the boot last week, Jordan showed up ready to fight for his spot in the competition. His weapon of choice? A smooth, laid-back take on Whitney Houston’s “I Want to Dance With Somebody,” and it was a direct hit. One of the most fun performances of the night, Jordan showed exactly who he is as an artist. (And we’ll be honest, we weren’t totally sold by Katy Perry’s choice to save him last week.)
TVLINE’S GRADE: “B+”
SAFE: McKenna Faith Breinholt
We won’t lie, we were a little worried when we heard that McKenna was “under the weather” this week, and we were even more concerned to learn that she didn’t get to work with Gene Simmons. But we’ll be darned if she didn’t get up on that stage and deliver a solid performance of Chicago’s “Hard to Say I’m Sorry.” It wasn’t her best showing of the season, but her sickness didn’t impact her voice as much as we expected it to. Heck, we’re pretty sure it only strengthened her signature rasp.
TVLINE’S GRADE: “B+”
SAFE: Jack Blocker
Jack covering Bob Dylan?! Color us shocked. Jack’s personal style fit “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” like a glove. Officially the folk-rock star of Season 22, Jack was more charming than ever this week, impressing us at every turn with his vocal strength and effortless talent.
TVLINE’S GRADE: “A-“
ELIMINATED: Nya
Gene Simmons was “shocked” to hear that Nya was nearly eliminated last week (same!), and sent her back onto that stage “with a real shot” at changing America’s mind. She came in hot, belting her face off and running up, down and every which way. Once Aretha Franklin’s “I Say a Little Prayer” really kicked in, Nya was fully in her element, owning the stage with confident moves and killer vocals. We’d get tickets to see her on Broadway tomorrow.
TVLINE’S GRADE: “A-“
SAFE: Will Moseley
Will and Bob Seger’s “Night Moves” were, unsurprisingly, a match made in classic rock heaven. It was extremely in his wheelhouse, and he didn’t falter for a second. Could the performance have been a little more exciting? Absolutely. But you’d be hard pressed to critique it musically.
TVLINE’S GRADE: “A-“
SAFE: Abi Carter
A consistent stunner, Abi once again turned it out with an ethereal take on Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” one boosted by some no-nonsense mentoring from Gene Simmons. It was an unexpected rendition of the iconic tune, and we weren’t initially sure that it was going to land, but there was absolutely no denying that powerful ending.
GRADE: “A”
Now that the Top 12 has been revealed, vote for the singers you’d keep in the Top 10:
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